Lady for a Day (1933)

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Robert Riskin (screenplay)
Damon Runyon (story)

Release Date:

13 September 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Takes its place among the greatest pictures ever made!

Plot:

A gangster tries to make Aple Annie, the Times Square apple seller a lady for a day

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Count | Apple | Comedy Of Manners | Class Differences

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Warren William	...	Dave the Dude
May Robson	...	Apple Annie
Guy Kibbee	...	Judge Henry G. Blake
Glenda Farrell	...	Missouri Martin
Ned Sparks	...	Happy
Walter Connolly	...	Count Romero
Jean Parker	...	Louise
Nat Pendleton	...	Shakespeare
Barry Norton	...	Carlos
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Butler
Hobart Bosworth	...	Governor
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Inspector

Also Known As:

Beggar's Holiday (USA) (working title)
Madame la Gimp (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (PCA #1326-R: 29 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Frank Capra had been loaned to MGM to work on a film called "Soviet," in exchange for $50,000 and Robert Montgomery's participation in this picture; Capra also hoped to get Marie Dressler's services from MGM. After "Soviet" was cancelled as a project, Columbia was unable to get either James Cagney from Warner Bros. or William Powell from MGM for the role of Dave the Dude; they also tried to get W.C. Fields from Paramount to play Judge Blake, but again could not make a deal.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the pool/billiard balls changes between shots in both the pool hall scene and the billiard room scene (obviously to set up the trick shots that follow).

Quotes:

Dave the Dude - 'Dave Manville': If we have to dig up a husband for Annie, let's to it and get over it.
Happy McGuire: Now you got to dig up a husband for...
[shouting]
Happy McGuire: Where you gonna get a husband just like that?
Dave the Dude - 'Dave Manville': How about you, Happy?
Happy McGuire: Me?
Missouri Martin: Oh, that's a swell idea. I think you'd be just precious.
Happy McGuire: That's a wonderful idea but there's one thing that stands on the way. I got a wife that is very fussy. She don't like me to go around and marrying people!

Movie Connections:

Version of Ji ji (1989)

Soundtrack:

String Quintet In E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet

One of Capra's very best

This sublime, charming fairy tale, about an old apple seller (the lovely May Robson) who is helped by a gangster named Dave the Dude (Warren William) and his buddies in order to make her rich and respectable for her returning daughter and in-law from Spain, is conceivably Capra's freshest, most underrated classic, perhaps with the exception of "The Bitter Tea of General Yen", which was also released in 1933. While "Bitter Tea" was a commercial flop, "Lady For a Day" proved to be Capra's first big success with the Depression-era audiences and a sign of things to come. A must-see!